Endings and Beginnings
by Korsriddare
Summary: It's Christmas Eve, and for two souls, it is a time for an end to their loneliness, and the beginning of something more. [Kakashi x Rin Oneshot]


**Disclaimer: **Naruto is not owned by me.  
**A/N:** Dedicated to PrincessTsunade, and all of you I suppose:) A short Christmas fic.

**_Endings and Beginnings_**

It's snowing.

The silver haired jounin notes as he leaps from tree branches to tree branches. His charka-propelled speed leaving no trace on the snow covered terrain as he speeds through the outskirts of the borders of Konoha. He notes without effort of the rapidly increasing distance between him and his pursuers.

He smiles briefly under his mask. They wouldn't be able to catch him at the speed he's going. True, he doesn't need to be traveling at such a fast pace, they still wouldn't be able to catch up with him before he reaches Hidden Leaf itself.

His half gloved hand reaches to his vest, checking that the scroll is still attached properly. The mission was, no, still is a B-ranked mission after all - high chance of mid-range opponent, either a few middle to high level chuunins or one, two low level jounins. Of course, mission ratings can get terribly distorted if the intelligence with regards to the mission was not interpreted correctly.

Well, so far so good.

* * *

It's snowing. 

The brown haired medic-nin smiles a little as she walks down the street, looking up at the sky. Her leisurely pace making regular soft crunches against the snow covered rod as she notes the many shops still open so the inhabitants of Konoha can enjoy Christmas Eve by either having a special dinner, or perhaps to get last-minute gifts.

She smiles faintly at the sight of a small boy tugging on his mother's kimono, pointing at a toy displayed at a toy shop. She could see the lady frowning softly in thought, and then a sigh followed by a gentle smile as the mother reaches for her purse and leads the boy into the shop. Her faint smile widens at the joyous expression on the boy.

Her hand reaches to her hair, carefully sweeping away some of the snow that had gathered on it. She shouldn't get too distracted, though. She still has a mission, albeit a personal one, to accomplish. Kakashi had promised that he will return for dinner, so she had tasked herself with the mission to prepare for him the best Christmas dinner ever (though she doubts he ever had one, it doesn't really matter).

Well, time to search.

* * *

On hindsight, he shouldn't have accepted the mission. 

Okay, so he had underestimated the distance from Konoha where the scroll was to be taken, but really, he shouldn't have taken it, or else he wouldn't be speeding his way through the trees, and trying to get back to the village before the clock hits midnight.

It seems strange that it matters now to him to be punctual for Christmas, when he had never really celebrated it before. Before he was a genin, his father was always on mission. When he was still with his genin cell, it was during war, and the one time his Sensei had treated them on Christmas was to for them to have an especially lavish meal in an inn near the border of Earth Country during a mission. Before he had Team Seven, most of the Christmas he had was either shoving his Raikiri into an enemy's chest, or avoiding kunai and ninjutsu.

And after getting Team Seven? Well, they didn't even get to spend a single Christmas together before it broke apart, and it still hurts too much to remind himself of his own failure. Now it's different, for the first time in his life (as far as he remembered), he had something- no, someone important waiting for him. That and he _did_ make a promise to Rin. He sees a promise made as a contract of the soul, to be upheld no matter the cost to personal health (one wouldn't hear him admit that to Gai any time soon, though).

The mission itself is simple enough, retrieve a scroll from the enemy. It was near the border before he caught up with them. Four inexperienced chuunins, from what he saw of their formation. Just a little too skilful with their charka control to be mere genins, but their lack of tactical coverage betrays their lack of combat experience. He created four Kage Bunshins to match their numbers, then made a general terrain altering genjutsu, dropping all four of the chuunins in it without them realizing. He then simply had his clones attack them in mock combat as he weaved in and out with the scroll in hand, and then deactivated both jutsu once he felt he was a comfortable distance away.

He had given them the best Christmas present he could think of: their lives.

Ironically, they had summoned help, and even though his pursuers do not seem to be catching up with him, they are still close enough for him to be wary. Concentrating slightly, he increases the charka output from his feet as the distance between him and them opens up more rapidly.

Now if he only knows what time it is. And hoping that he isn't late.

* * *

On hindsight, she shouldn't have volunteered for the Christmas Eve shift. 

Okay, so maybe she had underestimated the amount of patients she needed to attend to, but really, she didn't know she there would be _that_ many of them even during a festive season, or else she wouldn't be now desperately trying to find what Kakashi would like for dinner.

It seems strange that she is actually fussing over something for once. She normally has everything under control (mission conditions aside), and she takes much care to ensure nothing unexpected happen in her usual routines. But, she hasn't gotten to prepare Christmas dinner for a long, long time now. Her absence from Konoha didn't help that either. She still isn't exactly sure how she got back, but she sure is glad that Kakashi had offered for her to stay at his place.

And she, for one, thinks that Christmas dinner is absolutely important. Thus she had pestered Sensei to treat them to a nice and filling meal in that inn years ago (not that she told Kakashi or Obito about it).

The shift was alright, except for the numerous operations she was called to. Sure, Tsunade-sama was at the hospital too, but there were simply too many operations for the Hokage to handle alone. She had taken some of them to lessen the burden on the Hokage. Looking back now as she walks down the streets of Konoha, maybe the shift wasn't that bad after all.

She had given the patients the best Christmas present she could think of: their lives.

Ironically, it was Tsunade-sama who barged into an operation she was performing (after the life-threatening procedure was done, anyway), and told her clearly she was to wash up and leave the hospital to get home. So here she is, technically having left her shift early, but still trying to find broiled saury and miso soup with eggplant (he doesn't know it, but she knows his favorite food).

Now, if only she knows where to find them. And hoping that he's not hurt.

* * *

Tsunade tries hard not to grin openly as she notices the occasional shift of his eyes towards the clock in her office. Oh, he tried to hide it well, but she wasn't made Hokage for nothing. 

After Rin's return, she couldn't help but notice that one of Konoha's most eligible bachelors has changed. Not very much, but small subtle alterations to his personality that is truly heart-warming. She knows of Rin's affection for Kakashi (of which about half of the village knows too), and it's pretty obvious that Kakashi sees her as someone important to him.

And the subtle hints of him trying to get home as quickly as possible just confirm how important Rin is to him. She does give him points for hiding it as well as he's doing so right now.

She yawns as she tells him to finish with the report tomorrow because she's tired and she needs a rest. Of course, she's not going to tell him that she is letting him off tonight because he should get home before midnight, which would be spoiling things, now wouldn't it?

She manages not to smirk as he leaves the room.

* * *

She hums softly as she sets down the dishes on the makeshift table she dragged from behind the cupboard. She smiles at the photo of her genin team, which Kakashi had loyally kept over the years over his head. 

_Sensei, Obito… Merry Christmas!_

It's nearly midnight, and there's still no sign of Kakashi. A part of her remains concern, but for the most part, she is confident that he'll be back safe and sound…and on time. He doesn't make promises easily, but he sure tries his hardest to keep them, and she knows it.

So it is with a slight flutter in her stomach when she hears a knock on the door.

She soothes her hair to make it presentable, and walks over to open the door for him.

* * *

The Copy Nin walks quickly down the street to the Yamanaka Flower Shop. 

He had ordered a bundle of flower before he left for the mission, and had ordered one flower of each kind for the bundle, since he had, and still has no idea what each flower means. But one of each kind can't go wrong, right?

He had told them to send it to his place if he couldn't pick it up by a certain time, but he still hopes that the shop remains open. It just seems…more sincere if he handed her the flowers himself.

With a mental sigh of relief he sees the blond girl from Team Ten waiting for him just outside the shop, holding that bundle which he had honestly paid quite a lot for. He thanks her for waiting, though he's not sure why she winked at him when she told him to get home quickly (he'll never understand the female gender, he suppose).

So it is with a mix of slight confusion, irony and a feeling he could not really place that he knocks on the door of his own home.

He checks the bundle to make sure it looks okay, and waits for her to open the door.

* * *

She gives him a smile, a smile reserved just for him as the door opens fully. 

He returns it by giving her faint but honest smile, one that he knows only she can see underneath his mask.

Her eyes widen slightly in surprise as she sees the bundle of flowers in his hand. She blinks once. Yes, it is Hatake Kakashi that's standing in front of her, not some illusion she imagined.

His eye widens slightly in surprise as he smells his favorite food from within the room. He thought nobody knew what he liked.

She takes the bundle of flowers in her arms, taking a sniff of the plethora of smells. His body relaxes from the tense state he did not even realize he was in as he sees her acceptance of the present he had thought of. She places the bundle gently on his bed as she blushes lightly and thanks him for the present. She impulsively hugs him, her heart soaring.

She looks up at him.

He looks down at her.

She gently runs her fingers along his mask before pulling it down. He does not stop her, secretly enjoying her touch. She tip-toes as he leans down to cancel out the height difference.

In the midst of the alarm that signifies the passing of midnight and the beginning of Christmas, the two share their first kiss together without knowing that that was each of their first kisses too.

But, as they pull away, they do know one thing.

That love was the greatest present they had received for Christmas.

_Fin_

* * *


End file.
